Carving plastic



United States Patent O CARVING PLASTIC Angelo M. Di Vincenzo, Pittsburgh, Pa.

N Drawing. Application August 31, 1955, Serial No. 531,843

6 Claims. (Cl. 106-272) This invention relates to a composition of matter and, more particularly, to a composition in solid form which is useful as a carving plastic and which is particularly adaptable for use by beginners in the art of carving ornaments, figures and designs.

Hard substances are generally used by sculptors and others for carving figures, ornaments and the like of a permanent character. However, substantial manual effort and considerably long time periods are required for carving objects on such substances. Therefore such hard substances are not suitable for instruction purposes or for beginners who often make numerous attempts at perfection of a particular design and who discard the unsuccessful products of these attempts.

Therefore, soap has sometimes been used by beginners in the art of carving. However, soap has many outstanding disadvantages which make it unsuitable even for beginners. Soap readily fractures and chips upon the slightest collision with other objects and is somewhat translucent instead of opaque, thus making the carved impressions not too readily discernible. Furthermore, soap comes in sizes which are too thin for carving many designs. Also it has an objectionable odor as well as having a great tendency of the surface to rub off as the result of handling.

Attempts have been made to obtain a suitable carving medium but these have not been successful. Such mediums are generally too dense or heavy, as well as too hard, or have a high shrinkage tendency for successful use by beginners.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel composition of matter which is highly useful, particularly by beginners, in the art of carving and which is devoid of the above named disadvantages of soap.

More specifically, an object of my invention is to provide a carving plastic which is comparatively soft as compared to those generally used by sculptors, therefore, which can be carved with ease and minimum manual effort; which is extremely light and easy to handle; which does not have a tendency to chip or rub off; which does not shrink; and which retains its final shape for long periods of time so as to be relatively permanent in final form irrespective of collisions with other objects, accidental mishandling or dropping by the carver.

A further and more specific object of my invention is to provide an inexpensive carving medium having a paraffin or wax base and in which ingredients are added for making the medium considerably lighter in weight than solid parafiin or wax and which eliminates the shrinking tendency and reduces the transparency or translucency of paraflin as well as its tendency to chip or rub ofi.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description.

In accordance with the present invention, paraffin or wax is used as a base, which paraffin or wax is the same as that offered commercially by petroleum refineries. Parafiin alone, however, is unsuitable for carving since it ice has a great shrinking tendency and a great tendency to chip or rub off. Furthermore, it is relatively heavy for handling by beginners. Also, it is somewhat transparent or translucent therefore making it difficult to perceive the true final shape of the object being carved.

The above disadvantages of paraflin are overcome in accordance with the present invention. I

A composition according to the present invention consists of parafiin or wax, together with petroleum jelly, such as that sold under the trademark Vaseline, and Digussa Silica, which is a trademark designation for a burnt type of silica obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride and having a particle size less than 50 millicrons.

The paraffin or wax is the base'material whereas the Vaseline serves as an extender or solvent for the parafi'in or wax to keep their particles separated. The Digussa Silica serves as a filler for making the composition extremely light in weight, since the Digussa Silica has extremely low density, also it acts to make the composition opaque and makes the composition more uniform or homogeneous and structurally stronger.

The composition in accordance with the presentinvention is made by melting paraffin or wax and combining it with Vaseline for keeping the wax expanded, that is, for separating its particles. The temperature of the melted wax and Vaseline is maintained preferably by mixing and heating them in a double boiler. Then Digussa Silica is gradually added while the entire mixture is stirred thoroughly by hand or by a mechanical mixer. The tempearture of the melted wax and Vaseline is still maintained throughout the entire mixing process in order to obtain perfect homogenization. particles are thoroughly and uniformly dispersed in the composition. The composition while still molten is then poured into a suitable mold of desired shape for the composition, such as a rectangular block or possibly the shape of the first step for shaping a particular ornamental figure or design.

I have found that the quantities of the respective materials described above are rather critical. I have found that best results and an optimum composition is obtained by mixing ingredients in the following proportions (approximately) Ounces Parai'fin or wax l2 Vaseline 2 Digussa Silica 1 Paraffin or wax ounces 12 Vaseline do 2 Digussa Silica dram 1 The maximum amount of Vaseline and Digussa Silica which is usable without unduly interfering with the homogeneity needed for a suitable composition is as follows (approximately) Ounces Parafiin or wax 12 Vaseline 4 Digussa Silica 2 Therefore, it is seen from the above formulas that the relative amounts of the respective ingredients are rather critical and that the optimum amount of Digussa Silica is about 2 ounces for 12 ounces of paraffin or wax. Of course, the amount of Digussa Silica and Vaseline may Thus the Digussa Silica be varied within the range indicated by the above minimum and maximum values for these ingredients. The Vaseline may be decreased from 2 oz. to zero with inferior results.

While Vaseline has been described as the extender for Paraffin, other solvents or extenders for parafiin or wax may be substituted, such as those of the liquid type, but these would not be as suitable as Vaseline, since Vaseline is free from objectionable odor, is non-inflammable and in many other respects is the ideal extender. Likewise it would be possible to substitute some other filler than Digussa Silica having similar properties, such as the extremely light Weight-to-volume ratio and which is thoroughly dispersible throughout the paraffin and Vaseline when melted. It would also be possible to vary the weights or ratios of the ingredients in the above described compositions even beyond the limits stated, but only by sacrificing substantially with respect to the qualities or characteristics of the final composition.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efiicient and highly useful composition which is particularly adaptable to beginners and others for learning the art of carving ornaments, figures and designs, which composition is extremely light in weight, therefore easy to handle, free from odor, does not readily chip, flake or rub off, but, instead, is rather permanent in character, and which composition is easily cut by carving tools so as to permit the beginner to speedily form the desired figure or design, also which composition is opaque so as to make the shape of the carved figure more distinct to the eye as compared to parafiin or soap, also which composition is not fragile or too readily subject to breakage as a consequence of collision or dropping.

In short, I have provided a novel composition which is especially suitable in the art of carving and which embodies all the desired characteristics of a composition for use by beginners, and even professionals who Wish to make carvings of a semi-permanent character in order to considerably reduce the time period for carving a given finished figure or ornament.

While I have described certain ingredients and compositions for carrying out the purposes of my invention, it will be understood that these are by Way of illustration only and not by way of limitation, since various changes d modifica ions may be. made within th cont mplati n of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A composition of matter suitable for carving consisting of paraffin, a solvent for the parafiin, and a powdered silica filler of relatively lowdensity obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride and uniformly dispersed throughout said composition, said parafiin forming a major proportion of the composition.

2. A composition of matter suitable for carving comprising the following ingredients and proportions: paraffin about 12 ounces; petroleum jelly about 2 ounces and silica obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride about 1 ounce.

3. A carving composition comprising, by weight, about 12 ounces paraffin, about 2 to 4 ounces of petroleum jelly and about from 1 dram to 2 ounces of silica obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride. I

4. A composition of matter suitable for carving comprising, by weight, about 12 ounces parafiin, about 2 to 4 ounces of a petroleum jelly solvent and extender for the paraffin, and about from 1 dram to 2 ounces of a silicon as a filler of powdery form of about 50 millicrons in particle size and which is thoroughly and uniformly dispersed through the parafiin to form a verylight weight composition.

5. A carving composition as recited in claim 4 wherein said filler consists of silica obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride.

6. A composition of matter suitable for carving comprising ingredients in the following proportions; about 12 ounces paraffin, about 2 to 4 ounces of a petroleum jelly solvent and extender for the parafiin and about 1 dram to 2 ounces of silica obtained by burning silicon tetrachloride of about 50 millicron particle size uniformly dispersed throughout the parafiin.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent 2,130,560 Plechner et all Sept. 20, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 134,391 Australia Sept. 23, 1949 

1. A COMPOSITION OF MATTER SUITABLE FOR CARVING CONSISTING OF PARAFFIN, A SOLVENT FOR THE PARAFFIN, AND A POWDERED SILICA FILLER OF RELATIVELY LOW DENSITY OBTAINED BY BURNING SILICON TETRACHLORIDE AND UNIFORMLY DISPERSED THROUGHOUT SAID COMPOSITION, SAID PARAFFIN FORMING A MAJOR PROPORTION OF THE COMPOSITION. 